How to Apply for Civil Service Exam (PPT and CAT)

It's that time of that year again where people vying to be eligible for work for the government apply to the Civil Service Commission for its Civil Service Exams. Without the Civil Service Eligibility, one will not be able to achieve a regular status while working for the government.

So for ease on information on how to apply for the Civil Service Exam, I made here an easy to understand guide on how to apply for the Civil Service Exam, both for Paper and Pencil Test (PPT) and Computer Assisted Test (CAT) formats.

Paper and Pencil Test (PPT)

1. Secure a copy of the Civil Service Exam Application form from your nearest Civil Service Commission office. You could also download and print out a form from the Civil Service Website. Fill-in all the applicable slots.

2. Get your photo taken, 1.5"x2" (passport size, colored or black & white, four (4) copies) with a full name tag. Your name tag should contain your exact complete name (the one registered in your birth certificate). Bring all four copies together with you.

Very important: The name tag should not be computer generated, meaning you should be holding the name tag (i.e. whiteboard, cardboard name tag) with your hands while being photographed. Photos with computer generated name tags, incomplete names, or no names at all will not be accepted.

3. Bring in at least 2 valid IDs (name, photo, signature) and a photocopy of each. Also carry with you P350.00 for the processing fee of your examination.

4. Civil Service Commission personnel will give you a stub which contains the place where you'll take your exam, the date of your exam, and 2 photos of you which will be later submitted at the exam proper. DO NOT lose this stub.

Civil Service Exam results will be posted online at the Civil Service Commission website and the CSC office where you applied at approximately 1-2 months after the exam proper.

Note:

I've seen someone get ejected from the examination proper for being unable to produce a photo with an uncomputerized full name tag. So make sure you bring everything you need.


Computer Assisted Test (CAT)

The Computer Assisted Test is pretty much like the PPT. The only difference is you'll be using a keyboard and a mouse in filling up your answers.

It's difficult to apply for the CAT. You frequently need to visit this specific webpage – http://webapp.csc.gov.ph/CAT_Apply/index.php – to know when the CAT applications will be open for potential examinees.

Another thing that makes it very difficult to get inside the CAT is its "first-come first-serve" policy. The volume of examinees that the CAT can accomodate is limited up to 700 examinees only. And that's already for the whole Philippines, unlike in the PPT where potentially thousands of Civil Service examinees participate freely.

The only advantage of the CAT over the PPT is its ease of exam format and its 3-hour release of examination results. That means you'll know whether you've passed or failed the Civil Service Exam in exactly under a day.

I tried to apply for the CAT twice, but unfortunately I ran out of available seats literally within 5 minutes. No kidding. Apply only for the CAT if you have a very fast and reliable internet connection. Because once the servers of the Civil Service Commission fill in with thousands of CAT applicants, the CAT application page itself will load very slow, thus effectively disabling you from submitting your application form on time.


For more specific information on how to apply for the Civil Service Examinations, go to the official Civil Service Commission website.

'Till my next installment.